Russia has agreed to lend Venezuela more than US$2 billion to purchase tanks and advanced anti-aircraft missiles in deals that show Moscow’s commitment to working closely with Washington-foe Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Chavez said on Sunday the purchases agreed upon on a trip to Moscow last week included 92 tanks and an S-300 missile system that can shoot down fighter jets and cruise missiles.
Two years ago, Russia agreed to sell the same S-300 system to Iran but has dragged its feet over delivering the weapons amid US and Israeli concerns they will be used to defend Iran’s nuclear installations.
PHOTO: REUTERS/MIFALFORES PALACE
Chavez, who claims the US could attack Venezuela for its oil reserves, also reiterated that Moscow was helping Venezuela develop nuclear energy but said he had no intention of developing an atomic bomb.
“Let me be clear, Venezuela has no plans to invade anybody, or to be aggressive towards anybody,” Chavez said on his weekly TV show after announcing the US$2.2 billion loan. He did not say how much the new weapons cost.
A major oil exporter, Venezuela’s finances have suffered this year because of lower crude prices. Chavez said Venezuela needed to borrow the money for defense spending to avoid cuts in education and health.
In recent years, Venezuela has bought more than US$4 billion in weapons from Russia including 24 Sukhoi fighter jets. Critics say Venezuela is fueling an arms race in Latin America, but Chavez says he is modernizing the military for defensive purposes.
Chavez, who visited Moscow last week, said Venezuela was now buying 92 Russian T-72 tanks along with several types of missiles to build an air defense system.
He mentioned the Buk-M2 and S-300 surface-to-air missile systems and the Smerch rocket launcher.
The S-300, also known as the SA-20, is an extremely effective anti-aircraft system capable of tracking 100 targets at once. It can be used with missiles with a range of about 200km and can engage six targets simultaneously.
“With these rockets it’s going to be very difficult for foreign planes to come and bomb us,” Chavez said.
It was not immediately clear when Venezuela would receive the new weapons.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) launched a week-long diplomatic blitz of South America on Thursday by inaugurating a massive deep-water port in Peru, a US$1.3 billion investment by Beijing as it seeks to expand trade and influence on the continent. With China’s demand for agricultural goods and metals from Latin America growing, Xi will participate in the APEC summit in Lima then head to the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro next week, where he will also make a state visit to Brazil. Xi and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte participated on Thursday by video link in the opening
China has built a land-based prototype nuclear reactor for a large surface warship, in the clearest sign yet Beijing is advancing toward producing the nation’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, according to a new analysis of satellite imagery and Chinese government documents provided to The Associated Press. There have long been rumors that China is planning to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, but the research by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California is the first to confirm it is working on a nuclear-powered propulsion system for a carrier-sized surface warship. Why is China’s pursuit of nuclear-powered carriers significant? China’s navy is already
IT’S A DEAL? Including the phrase ‘overlapping claims’ in a Chinese-Indonesian joint statement over the weekend puts Jakarta’s national interests at risk, critics say Indonesia yesterday said it does not recognize China’s claims over the South China Sea, despite signing a maritime development deal with Beijing, as some analysts warned the pact risked compromising its sovereign rights. Beijing has long clashed with Southeast Asian neighbors over the South China Sea, which it claims almost in its entirety, based on a “nine-dash line” on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of several countries. Joint agreements with China in the strategic waterway have been sensitive for years, with some nations wary of deals they fear could be interpreted as legitimizing Beijing’s vast claims. In 2016,
RSS